On Thursday, public health and environmental advocates gathered at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Washington, DC, headquarters to call on the agency to ban vinyl chloride, a cancer-causing chemical used to manufacture PVC plastic. “We think it’s long overdue for the EPA to use its existing authority to ban vinyl chloride,” Judith Enck, the president of the nonprofit Beyond Plastics, told Environmental Health News (EHN). Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, Enck explained, the EPA would be able to restrict vinyl chloride without needing congressional approval. The EPA classified vinyl chloride as a carcinogen in 1974 and barred its use in several applications, including hair spray, drugs and refrigerants. Environmental injustice The majority of the country’s vinyl chloride plants are located in Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana.

Source: New York Times July 28, 2023 10:52 UTC